The first Hawkwind studio album for 5 years, since 2005's Take Me To Your Leader - discounting the "sampler" EP, 2006's Take Me To Your Future - is just cause for celebration amongst the band's fans, of which I am one. Of course, fans have recently had the (ongoing) pleasure of Esoteric Recordings' Atomhenge series of remastered reissues to keep them happy, but a new studio album is a rare treat indeed for a band that, entering its fifth decade is still playing live regularly. It would have pleased my sense of justice had this album been released on Esoteric, they have done much for the band in recent years.

Sad to say, then, that Blood of the Earth falls well short of expectation, in particular as the that expectation had been enhanced by the band's excellent back history being in sharp focus as a result of the reissues. After an excellent start, the album fades into a meandering morass after the fourth track.

The album features the usual Hawkwind mix of sung and instrumental tracks, with the predominance for singing, and there are no tricks – this sounds very much like a Hawkwind album. At least there's one band that over four decades has ploughed the same straight furrow, virtually without deviation – fans know what they're going to get! That may be a simplification, but not a great one compared with many other bands. Unfortunately, the quality does vary a bit and there are good Hawkwind albums and not so good ones.

So as you know where I'm coming from, my favourites are Hall of the Mountain Grill, Quark, Strangeness and Charm, Levitation and, of the modern era ones, Spacebrock. An example of a less enjoyable one would be In Your Area, although even that, as this, has good moments.

At the album's beginning, we're straight into 5* territory with Vincent Price's menacing voiceover declaring "I will become the Master of the Universe" as a prelude to some whirls and whizzes, then a super bass riff and some ace synth work on "Seahawks". Wow! Welcome back! "Blood of the Earth" maintains the interest, a very spacey number with another Hawkwind trademark, some SF poetry. "Wraith" is a rocker that delivers punch and pace. By now we are soaring the heights; the instrumental "Green Machine" delivers a beautiful synth melody that then develops with some tantalisingly pretty guitar. So far, totally excellent, great sound, great music, it's all one can hope for.

Unfortunately, this is where things begin to go awry. Blake's "Inner Visions" fails to nail home the advantage wrought by a crunchy riff; it's not bad but lacks the excellence of the first four numbers and one is left feeling that it is an opportunity missed. It gets worse: "Sweet Obssession" sounds tinny to me – through state-of-the-art hi-fi as well as through iPod – and that is a terrible thing to write about a band such as Hawkwind! "Comfy Chair" is just droney and sleepy; "Prometheus" is slow and lacking interest, the long bridge fails to excite in any way; "You'd Better Believe It", another of those "standard" Hawkwind re-writes, is the murder of a great song; and "Sentinel", which ends the normal album, is plodding. The bonus track, the instrumental "Starshine", is uninteresting – they have written far better in their career.

Interviewed for a British progressive rock magazine Brock claimed the new album was "alright". I agree – it is alright, but judging by the start, it could have been excellent.

Another factor adding to the sense of disappointment is that the band's imitators now appear to have overtaken them in terms of quality. They have influenced a number of bands some of whom, such as Litmus, are near-imitators. Only thing is, they are very good at it; for instance their Planetfall and Aurora albums outdo anything Hawkwind themselves have done in the last ten years. Of course, if you are a Hawkwind fan like me, you'll probably buy Blood of the Earth anyway (and rightly so!) but, for others who may be interested in delving into some classic space-rock, then I'm almost tempted to suggest you try a Litmus album instead.

Hawkwind: Blood of the EarthPosted by Pete Pardo, SoT Staff Writer on 2013-10-23 16:53:12My Score: Over 40 years into their career and countless studio, live, compilation, and offshoot releases to their credit, legendary space rock pioneers Hawkwind show no signs of slowing down. Blood of the Earth is the bands 2010 album, and features the line-up of Dave Brock (vocals,guitar, keyboards), Tim Blake (vocals, keyboards, theremin), Niall Hone (guitar, bass, samples), Mr Dibs (vocals, bass), and Richard Chadwick (drums, vocals). Over the years, the band have changed their sound ever so slightly depending on the decade, but in 2010 it was back to hard rocking, spacey psychedelia once again.

Fantasy and science fiction lyrical themes permeate this dense, hi-tech affair, which is one of the heavier Hawkwind albums in recent memory. As far as mixing heavy guitars and waves of space age synthesizers, Blood of the Earth delivers on all fronts. "Seahawks" is a wild opener, with Brock & Hone crafting a wall of guitars over which synths blip, bleep, and buzz every which way. This segues into the ominous title track, a mostly instrumental piece that takes you into deep dark space, save for some brief spoken word narration from Matthew Wright. "Wraith" is a blistering heavy metal rocker, complete with crushing riffs and savage lead guitar work, plus those wonderful synths stabbing in and out of the mix. "Green Machine" is a classic space rock instrumental, and "Inner Visions" is an ominous sci-fi rocker, complete with eerie vocals, loads of buzzing synths and heavy riffs. As with much of the album, the guitar work on the catchy "Sweet Obsession" is outstanding, no doubt thanks for the presence of Hone. Brock is a solid player, but he's clearly not flashy, so most of this sizzling work has to be Hone delivering the goods.

After the haunting "Comfy Chair", which has some lovely acoustic guitar, warm vocals, and chilling keyboards, "Prometheus" provides Middle Eastern elements to go along with heavy space rock arrangements. Longtime fans of the band will love the updated version of the classic "You'd Better Believe It" from the Hall of the Mountain Grill album from 1974. It's a great song no matter how you slice it, though some will probably argue that another new tune would have made more sense here, but re-recording old classics seems to be what Hawkwind likes doing these days. The awesome "Sentinel" closes out the regular part of the album in fine fashion, a somber, emotional tune that has some of the most gut wrenching guitar solos on the album. I'm reminded of the late, great Ronnie Montrose here, as crisp, melodic, poignant guitar surges through a haze of dreamy vocals and melancholy synths. This is Hawkwind at their proggy best. The bonus track "Starshine" is another great space rock instrumental, as Brock & Blake's wall of synths create so many cool tones and textures.

So glad to see Hawkwind creating viable, exciting new material at this stage of the game, and Blood of Earth is exactly what a solid space rock album should be. Pretty heavy in spots too for those that like when the band rocks out a little more, but with plenty of fascinating synth passages for everyone who loves to travel in deep dark space.

For information regarding where to send CD promos and advertising, please see our FAQ page.
If you have questions or comments, please Contact Us.
Please see our Policies Page for Site Usage, Privacy, and Copyright Policies.